Author 



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Title 



Imprint. 



16 — J7372-2 OPO 



COLONEL ELMER E. ELLSWORTH 

FIRST HERO OF 
THE CIVIL WAR 



BY 

CHARLES A. INGRAHAM 




Reprinted from the Wisconsin Magazine of History 
Volume I, Number 4. June. 1918 



COLONEL ELMER E. ELLSWORTH 

FIRST HERO OF 
THE CIVIL WAR 



BY 

CHARLES A. INGRAHAM 




Reprinted from the Wisconsin Magazine of History 
Volume I, Number 4, June, 1918 



E4C7 
•I 



COLONEL ELMER E. ELLSWORTH: FIRST 
HERO OF THE CIVIL WAR^ 

Charles A. Ingraham 

On Monday, the twenty-ninth of April, 1861, fourteen 
days after President Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops, a regi- 
ment composed of 1,100 men, uniformed and equipped, 
marched the streets of New York en route to the national 
capital. Riding at the head of the column was the Colonel, 
a young man of twenty-four, small of stature, with flashing 
dark eyes and with a look of authority and power upon his 
handsome features. The crowds along the line of march 
cheered enthusiastically as the regiment passed — a magnifi- 
cent body of men who at his call had rushed in the space 
of four days to the colors. It was Ellsworth's regiment 
of Zouaves, reci*uited from the firemen of New York City, 
and afterwards mustered into the service as the Eleventh 
New York Volunteer Infantry. 

But whence came this wonderful youth who, as if by 
magic, had called into being this stalwart array — bold and 
fearless men, resenting restraint, but submitting cheerfully 
now to his iron discipline? Not many years before, he had 
been but an obscure country boy of northern New York, 
remote from the places of advancement and culture, a son 
of worthy parents, unable, however, to contribute of their 
limited means to the furtherance of the ambitious desires of 

^This article, which is intended to serve as an introduction to a biography 
of Colonel Ellsworth which I hope to bring out, comprises but a fraction of the 
data bearing upon his life and times which I have in my possession. To those 
who have aflForded me assistance in the collection of this material I am deeply 
grateful; in particular I desire to express my indebtedness to the following per- 
sons: Milo M. Quaife, superintendent, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 
Madison; Caroline M. Mcllvaine, librarian, Chicago Historical Society; Eugenia 
S. Godfrey, Rockford, Illinois; Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber, librarian, Illinois State 
Historical Society, Springfield; Isabella K. Rhodes, acting reference librarian, 
New York State Library, Albany; Jessie F. Wheeler, Reference Department, Troy 
Public Library; William A. Saxton, chief. Bureau of War Records, Albany, New 
York. 



2 Charles A. Ingraham 

their oif spring. In the brief space of a year he had achieved 
national prominence; having had up to the summer of 1860 
but a local reputation, confined to Chicago and its vicinity, 
he became the popular idol of the entire northern country. 
At the head of his United States Zouave Cadets he had 
toured the leading eastern cities and won distinction for the 
extraordinary perfection of drill exhibited by his command. 
Shining through all this historic expedition appears preemi- 
nent the attractive personality of the young captain — knight- 
ly, magnetic, winning, lofty of character, able to control 
every one of his cadets under the imperious rule of his native 
authority and undeviating rectitude. 

On the morning of the twenty-fourth of May, less than 
a month from the departure of the Fire Zouaves from New 
York, Ellsworth was killed at Alexandria. Not in vain was 
his fall, for it caused the hesitating northern people to reach 
firmly at last for the rifle. "Ellsworth's Avengers," the Forty- 
fourth New York Volimteer Infantry, recruited from every 
county of the Empire State, with unusual physical require- 
ments and moral standards, marched from their encampment 
at Albany for the front on October 21, 1861. Well did they 
fulfill the name they bore, for on many a battle field this 
somewhat Puritanical regiment, remarkable for the scholar- 
ship and worth of its rank and file, never forgot the assassina- 
tion of Ellsworth as they carried their rent colors against 
the foe. Still another regiment of New York City firemen, 
the Second Fire Zouaves, or the Seventy-third New York 
Volunteer Infantry, was recruited under the inspiration of 
Ellsworth's name and was mustered into the service on July 
10, 1861. Reenlisting in 1864, it had a continuous service to 
the close of the war and enjoys a magnificent history. 

Thus Ellsworth had, to his immediate, demonstrable 
credit, the mustering in of three regiments, which constituted, 
however, but a small proportion of the multitude whose 
patriotic devotion was evoked by his death and who followed 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 3 

the flag into the service. Yet many believe him to have been 
but a rash and adventurous person, vain and superficial. My 
study of his life, however, convinces me of the error of such 
opinion and that he was a young man of extraordinary gifts, 
prudent thought, gentle, loving instincts, and one who had 
been baptized with a fervent spirit of patriotism. Abraham 
Lincoln recognized his wonderful abilities and admirable 
traits of character and loved him for them, had his stricken, 
cold body brought to the White House, and wept over his 
remains as he would have grieved over those of his own son. 
And John Hay, in two notable magazine articles, one written 
soon after Ellsworth's fall, the other towards the close of Mr. 
Hay's career, has nothing but eulogy for the noble youth 
whom he had intimately known and loved as a brother. 
Surely, young Ellsworth had in him the elements of great- 
ness! Schooled in poverty, disciplined by hardship and dis- 
appointment, his life is yet a shining path of pure living, high 
purpose, devoted patriotism, and worthy fame. 

The motorist who seeks the birthplace of Ellsworth leaves 
the city of Troy, crosses to the west side of the Hudson at the 
northern limits of the town, and follows the macadam road 
along the river northward fourteen miles to the city of 
Mechanicsville. Here he will leave the river and proceeding 
in a northwesterly direction over a fine state road will reach 
at a distance of nine miles the little village of Malta, Saratoga 
County, seven miles this side of the city of Saratoga Springs. 
At Malta, Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth was born on April 11, 
1837. The hamlet is much like thousands of others scattered 
over our eastern states; it claims its four corners, church, 
schoolhouse, and general store, but, with its spacious square, 
shade trees, and pleasant dwellings, it is more attractive than 
the average small village. The house in ^vhich Ellsworth 
first saw the light is yet standing, a well preserved, small, 
story-and-a-half structure, looking cheerfully out on the 
great road where thousands pass, ignorant of the honor which 



4 Charles A. Ingraham, 

it possesses. It has been called "the low-browed cottage," 
a characterization which is apj^ropriate, for two small, oblong 
windows are suggestive of eyes peering out from under the 
eaves. Ephraim D. Ellsworth, Elmer's father, a worthy 
citizen and a tailor by trade, in 1836 married Phoebe Denton 
who resided here, and employed himself at this place in the 
business of his calling. He was of English extraction, born 
in the town of Halfmoon, Saratoga County, New York, 
and a man of bright intellect. His grandfather, George 
Ellsworth, as a boy of fifteen joined the American army 
operating against Burgoyne, fought in the battle of Sara- 
toga, and was present at the subsequent surrender of the 
British army. George Ellsworth was thus a yet-living in- 
fluence to develop the patriotic and martial spirit of his great- 
grandson, and, added to the special interest he took in the 
exciting story of the boy-soldier's adventures, was the realiz- 
ing assistance afforded by the proximity of the battle field, 
nine miles away. Phoebe Denton could no more trace a 
distinguished ancestry than could her husband, and all that 
is available concerning her is that on her father's side she 
had an English lineage, and on her mother's, a "Scotch 
Presbyterian." 

The boyhood life of Elmer in Malta was isolated enough 
but was relieved somewhat by the nearness of Saratoga 
Springs, which in those times was a leading watering-place 
of the country, where the wealth and fashion of the land 
disported itself. Many costly equipages every season M^ould 
pass through the village, bound to and from Saratoga, not a 
few of them belonging to the southern aristocracy and having 
ebony coachmen on the box. Only two miles east is the beauti- 
ful Saratoga Lake, with the charms of which he was familiar. 
He was a good student in the district school, but not at all 
precocious or remarkable as a scholar. He was cheerful, 
fond of and a leader in all games and sports, but his greatest 
enjoyment was in reading; he would become lost for hours 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 5 

in a book, heedless of the lapse of time. His mother was a 
pious woman and from her and the services of the Presby- 
terian church he derived deep religious convictions which 
he maintained throughout his life. He became, also, at an 
early age, a pronounced temperance disciple and, having 
heard a lecturer say that the devil dwelt in a cider barrel, 
wanted to take a "gun and cussion cap" and shoot him. His 
mother has left on record many interesting instances of his 
philosophical character and original sayings, but there is not 
room here to give them place. I may, however, be permitted 
to mention his purchase of his brother Charlie, the one other 
child in the family. Charlie was three years younger than 
Elmer, and the older brother conceiving a great fondness for 
him while he was yet a babe, and desiring him for his own, 
bought him of his parents for six shillings. From that time 
forward Elmer assumed a sort of guardianship over him and 
maintained that sense of obligation up to the day of Charlie's 
death. At an early age he began to evidence a proclivity for 
military studies and employments by exhibiting a preference 
for books dealing with war and battles ; when but nine years 
of age he drew with wagon-paints on one side of a windows' 
shade a picture of General Washington and staff, and on the 
reverse side one of General Jackson and staff. A natural 
aptitude for sketching was further developed as he grew 
older and was of practical help to him in his military occupa- 
tions. Many of his sketches are still preserved and cherished. 
After he had spent a year as a clerk in the employ of a Mr. 
DeGrofF, who kept a general store at Malta, the family 
moved to Mechanicsville. 

The ambition which Elmer had cherished of entering 
West Point Military Academy might have been realized had 
there been at Mechanicsville educational advantages whereby 
he could have gained the proper preparation, but the village, 
then a place of about 800 inhabitants, had nothing higher 
than district schools, and his father had not the means to send 



6 Charles A. Ingraham 

him to an academy. He attended the school located on North 
Main Street, a brick building still standing and converted 
into an attractive residence. Mr. Ellsworth's trade seems 
not to have afforded him a sufficient income, for he adopted 
various makeshifts in order to provide for his family, such as 
peddling oysters, netting pigeons, and other like employ- 
ments. Elmer was sometimes sneered at by his companions 
on account of his father's poverty and one day he whipped 
a boy soundly who had called him, "oyster-keg." 

All this made a deep wound in the proud and sensitive 
heart of the boy, and throughout his career, in his letters and 
diary, may still be read the ever-recurring refrain of his desire 
to remove his parents from lives of grinding toil and carking 
care. This absorbing thought had been observed by President 
Lincoln and was mentioned in his letter to Colonel Ells- 
worth's bereaved parents as "conclusive of his good heart." 
But Elmer had the great privilege while living in Mechanics- 
ville of organizing and having under him a military company : 
the Black Plumed Riflemen, of Stillwater, an historic village 
three miles above Mechanicsville. At this time, although but 
fifteen, short and slight of build, .he would go through the 
manual of arms with the heavy muskets of those days witli 
wonderful ease and rapidity. Throughout his life he was ever 
of a strong, virile constitution ; quick, active, alert, he became 
in after years an accurate shot and a fine swordsman. Illus- 
trative of his strength and agility and as exhibiting his quali- 
fication to lead others in performing startling feats, it is still 
told in Mechanicsville that one day a clerk in Hatfield's store 
(now the ]\Iead Building) having heard a commotion in the 
second story, upon investigation, found that Ellsworth and 
the Black Plumed Riflemen had ascended there on a "human 
ladder"; the last ones were pulled up through the doorway 
from the sidewalk. Though JMechanicsville has grown to be 
a place of more than 8,000 population, the older parts of the 
town remain very much as when Ellsworth paraded the streets 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 7 

with his riflemen. The old home, a pleasant dwelling on 
Ellsworth Street in the southern part of the place, still stands 
amid surroundings practically unchanged. The premises 
front on the embankment of the Delaware and Hudson Rail- 
road; in the rear flows the now abandoned section of the 
Champlain Canal. Just south of the home and on the rise 
of ground is the residence of Robert Sears, deceased, who 
was an intimate friend of the family and who accompanied 
the stricken parents to New York to meet the remains of 
their son. Elmer was a welcome visitor here, where he and 
his companion, Charles Sears, had many a happy romp in 
the fields about the homestead. It is needless to say that 
the remembrance of Colonel Ellsworth is still a sacred one 
in the Sears family and that his memorials are cherished in 
the white mansion on the hill where he was gladly entertained 
and duly appreciated ; for even at this early age it was evident 
that he was a lad of superior parts. Certain of the citizens 
have suggested changing the name of the place to "Ells- 
worth" and erecting a fitting monument in the midst of the 
city, a commendable proposal, though there are already nine 
villages named Ellsworth in as many states of the country, 
and notwithstanding that a noble granite memorial to his 
memory, unveiled with elaborate and impressive ceremonies 
on May 27, 1874, stands in the Mechanicsville cemetery. 

Elmer's stay in Mechanicsville did not embrace above a 
year or more, and after having had considerable success in 
selling papers on the railway trains, he secured the consent 
of his father to leave home and try to make his own way 
in the world. He, therefore, in 1852, secured employment 
as a clerk in the store of Corliss & House, Troy, dealers in 
linen goods, where he remained about a year. The career of 
Ellsworth from now on to 1858 is difficult to follow in detail 
on account of the as yet scarcity of data from which to con- 
struct a satisfactory narrative. It is known, however, that 
from the time he left Mechanicsville to the hour of his death. 



8 Charles A. Ingraham 

his life, though in its last two years astonishingly prominent 
and in point of honorable fame highly successful, was 
throughout an experience of almost unremitting hardship 
and poverty; a beating about from one employment to 
another; a weary history of uncongenial labor and foiled 
ambition. It is probable that he was, to use his own words, 
endeavoring to "make a bold push for fortune," that he might 
quickly relieve his parents of that toil and privation, the 
remembrance of which seems to have burned into his soul to 
remain smarting there through the long years. Perhaps it 
would be charity to allow the mantle of forgetfulness to re- 
main upon this period of unrequited effort, though from the 
glimpses we have in it of Ellsv/orth he is smiling and cheerful 
through it all, ever maintaining the most scrupulous honor and 
unblemished character. But the American people will desire 
the uncovering of every detail of the life of this remarkable 
young genius and martyr, whose very gifts of mind and heart, 
like those of many another, made him the prey of fortune. 

On August 2, 1917, there appeared in the Telegraph- 
Courier of Kenosha, Wisconsin, a letter from Charles H 
Goif e, a former resident of the city, and among his reminis- 
cences of Kenosha is the following concerning Ellsworth in 
the summer of 1853, Elmer being then sixteen years old. I 
have nothing with which to corroborate Mr. GofFe's state- 
ment, but as it has the impress of truth and corresponds, 
though in an exaggerated manner, with what I have learned 
of Ellsworth's traits of character, I am disposed to give it 
acceptance. It is my opinion that, having saved a sum of 
money from his salary as a clerk in Troy, he resolved to "plod 
along" no further but to "make a bold push for fortune" 
in the West, and endeavor to find by prospecting a more 
promising field. Mr. Goffe writes: 

"There was also boarding at Mrs. Bell's at this time, a 
young man of handsome features and fastidious ways, ac- 
centuated by a repelling hauteur and exclusiveness, so often 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 9 

found peculiar to genius. His associates were few and his 
disposition was not calculated to make intimates of those he 
came in contact with. No one seemed able to penetrate the 
mystery of his personality and yet there was something about 
the youth which arrested the attention of all. But he was 
obsessed with a penchant or habit born perhaps of idle vanity 
of writing (or scribbling) his name in a bold, flowing, and not 
ungraceful hand, upon every scrap of paper, on the weather- 
boards of the house, and on gate and fence posts, a name 
which a few years later was on every tongue, flashed in the 
headlines of the daily press, and stamped in deathless Imes 
upon the history of his country — the name of Elmer E. Ells- 
worth. ... In the fall of 1853, when the Kenosha High 
S'^hccl :)pened for the winter term under Professor DeWolfF, 
r Mr. Ellsworth attended for a while, but was not satisfied 
with school life, and suddenly dropped out of view and was 
for a time forgotten." 

Mr. Goffe says that when, two years later, he went to 
Muskegon, across the lake in Michigan, he learned that Ells- 
worth had associated with and been adopted by the Ottawa 
Indians who dwelt in those parts. After describing how he 
had been created a chief among them, made the recipient of 
\ high honors, and adorned with unique and gaudy apparel, 
Mr. GofFe continues: 

"But, alas, when the novelty of barbaric glory and dis- 
play had become stale, and the craving for other conquests 
and other scenes, and perhaps dreams of awaiting glories 
had disturbed his vision, this eccentric child of genius sud- 
denly disappeared from his tribe and had gone no one could 
tell where. His people waited long, but he returned no more^ 
and the red-skinned maidens of the tamarack swamps waited 
and sighed in vain for the handsome young chief on whom 
they had doted, and for whom they had hoped and dreamed. 
And the seasons came and passed, and the moons had filled 



10 Charles A. Ingraham 

their horns many times only to wane and the white chief 
came no more." 

As stated before, it is probable that Ellsworth visited 
Kenosha and it is likely, too, that on his way home he stopped 
at Muskegon and was with the Indians for a brief period, 
but that he remained there a year or more, as Mr. Goife 
was told, or that he made any extended stay among the Red- 
skins is highly improbable, though I realize that in expressing 
this opinion I am throwing ashes on what purports to be a 
romantic episode. 

Returning to Mechanicsville and casting about for em- 
ployment, Ellsworth recalled that in one of his trips between 
Troy and his home he had met on the train a gentleman from 
New York who, evidently attracted by his intelligent and 
prepossessing appearance, drew him into conversation and 
impressed himself favorably on the youth's mind and memory. 
Thinking that this transient friend might help him, he 
inserted a "personal" in the New York Herald which in due 
time brought a letter from the gentleman, who proved to 
be a drygoods merchant, and after a preparatory corres- 
pondence Ellsworth was made a clerk in his store. This was 
in 1853, the year of his visit to the West and Kenosha. 

Concerning the two years that he spent in New York 
I have been able to secure but fragmentary and disconnected 
data. He remained but half of this period in the employ of 
the merchant referred to and when, in 1855, he went to Chi- 
cago, he did so in company with a party of engineers by 
whom he had been employed in improving the channel at 
Hellgate, not far from New York. This work was carried 
on by the aid of divers who deposited the explosive on the 
surface of the rock and this being fired by electricity and 
confined somewhat by the weight of water effected con- 
siderable execution. Just what part Ellsworth played in 
this work or how long he was engaged in it is not knoM^n. 
While in New York he was afforded an opportunity of 




DRAWING MADE BY COLONEL ELLSWORTH 

Rej)rocluce(l from the original in the Wiseonsin Historical Ijbrary 



i^ 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 11 

acquiring a better knowledge of military tactics through the 
drills of the Seventh Regiment, which he attended on every 
available occasion. 

He was eighteen years of age when, with his brother, he 
went to Chicago, hoping to make better progress in provid- 
ing means for the ease, security, and happiness of their 
parents. For, while yet a little boy in Malta, having been 
pained by the cruel words of a companion who had sneeringly 
remarked that his mother wore "patched shoes," he had told 
her that he would some day earn a lot of money so that she 
would be a lady as well as the best and "ride in a carriage." 
This ambition for his mother, that she might "ride in a car- 
riage," was referred to hopefully in a letter dated Madison, 
Wisconsin, November 15, 1858. Though his brother, after 
remaining but a brief season in Chicago, seems to have given 
up the battle and returned home, Elmer held on and through 
the most discouraging experiences persevered and at last 
achieved a success which repaid him for all his suffering and 
humiliation. 

Not long after his arrival in Chicago he engaged himself 
as a clerk to Arthur F. Devereux, of Salem, Massachusetts, 
who ^vas in the patent soliciting business and who later be- 
came an officer in the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment. Ells- 
worth after a time became a partner with Mr. Devereux and 
the firm enjoyed prosperity when, through the defalcation 
of one whom they trusted, everything was lost and Elmer 
found himself without a dollar struggling again for the bare 
necessities of life. Three years had been passed in this busi- 
ness, as ajDpears from Ellsworth's own words. He writes: 
"In an evil hour I placed confidence in an infernal scoundrel, 
was robbed of everything in a moment, saw the reward of 
three years' toil fade from my eyes when about to grasp it." 

The occurrence of this catastrophe brings Ellsworth's 
career down to 1858, he then being of the age of twenty-one. 
Connected with the business of a patent solicitor are certain 



12 Charles A. Ingraham 

legal aspects that require attention, and having in this way 
in a manner been introduced to the law, he determined to 
prepare himself for the full practice of that profession. He 
therefore entered the law office of Mr. J. E. Cone as a student. 
The remuneration he received for copying legal papers was 
wholly inadequate ; for a time he slept on the floor of the office, 
and suffered, not infrequently, the pangs of hunger. During 
these months of hard study, drudgery of copying, and abject 
poverty, he retained his interest in military affairs, though 
he had no active part in them for the reason that he could 
not afford the expense of belonging to a company. How- 
ever, he joined a gymnasium and made the acquaintance of 
Dr. Charles A. DeVilliers, who was an instructor in fencing, 
evidently in that institution. Dr. DeVilliers was destined 
to play an important part in the military education and career 
of Ellsworth, for he revived in him his ardent martial spirit 
and encouraged him in his desire to acquire an intimate 
knowledge of the French Zouave system of tactics and uni- 
form vvith a view to introducing them into this country. 
DeVilliers was competent for this purpose, having served 
with a French Zouave regiment in the Crimean War and was 
familiar with all the details of their drill and equipment. The 
name and system were derived by the French in 1830 from 
the members of a mountain tribe of Algeria, (Arab., Zwawa) 
who, arrayed in oriental costume, wide trousers, fez, and loose 
jacket, were in their rapidity of movement and ferocity of 
courage famed as fighters. Ellsworth, of a romantic nature 
and a lover of the novel and dramatic, was attracted by this 
now famous and spectacular system, and sent to France for 
books fully explaining it and set himself to acquire the 
language that he might read them. In the meantime, with 
Scott's and Hardee's books of tactics open before him, he 
perfected himself in the manual of arms, not hesitating to 
introduce improvements of his own where they seemed desira- 
ble, his endeavor being to bring ease, grace, and celerity into 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 13 

every movement. Under DeVillier's instruction he became 
the best fencer in Chicago, while his 'lightning drill" at- 
tracted attention as he exhibited it in the gymnasium. 

His reputation having reached as far as Kockford, Illi- 
nois, he was engaged in the summer of 1858 to drill the Rock- 
ford City Grays, a company that had been organized two 
years earlier. The corps made good progress and in Septem- 
ber went into camp on the fairgrounds, remaining four days, 
during which time military companies from Elgin, Freeport, 
and Chicago visited the encampment. During his stay at 
Kockford Ef Us worth made the acquaintance of Miss Carrie 
SpafFord, to whom he became engaged, and for whom to 
the day of his death he cherished the highest regard and the 
deepest affection. Her father, Mr. Charles H. SpafFord, 
was one of the pioneers and a leading citizen of the place 
and with his family was attached to Ellsworth and befriended 
him more, perhaps, than any others outside of his immediate 
relatives. In his last letter to Miss SpafFord he refers to her 
parents as "father and mother." Mrs. Charles H. Godfrey, 
a sister of ^liss SpafFord, still resides at Rockford and oc- 
cupies the dwelling where Colonel Ellsworth visited the 
family in 1858, and though she has no remembrance of him 
she cherishes the honor that her Christian name, Eugenia, 
was by him proposed for her to the family when he fondled 
her on his knee. Miss Carrie SpafFord married Charles S. 
Brett, both of whom with their only son are deceased, Mrs. 
Brett having died in 1911 at the old home where the Colonel 
visited her. Not only did Ellsworth win the friendship and 
regard of the SpafFord family, but his cordial manners and 
magnetic personality made him a marked individuality and 
a popular hero throughout the town. 

In the following month of October Ellsworth went to 
Madison, Wisconsin, and was employed there in drilling the 
Governor's Guard, a military company organized in Feb- 
ruary of that year and made up of the leading young 



14 Charles A. Ingraham 

men of the place. It is on record that on October 15, 
1858, he was elected commandant of the Guard and began 
drilling the company, which at the beginning numbered 
twenty-five men, three evenings in each week. There is noth- 
ing to indicate how long he remained at Madison, though a 
letter to his mother, already referred to, bears date, "Capitol 
House, Madison, Wis., Nov. 15th, 1858," and it is probable 
that he was with the Governor's Guard in its parade of 
December 26 following, concerning which a Madison news- 
paper says, "They appear much improved in a military 
point." The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has in 
its archives several interesting memorials of Ellsworth's 
sojourn in Madison. There is some evidence that he drilled 
a company in Springfield, Illinois, at about this period, but 
the statements are so indefinite and inconclusive that I have 
refrained from giving them as facts. In a study of this kind 
it is necessary carefully to compare, weigh, and sift all the 
materials of information. 

A definite landmark in the life of Ellsworth is his diary, 
commenced on his twenty-second birthday, April 11, 1859, 
and continued for a brief period.' This was in the spring 
following his agreeable and successful military employment 
at Rockford and Madison, but from which he seems to have 
derived no considerable emolument, for the entries in his diary 
relate experiences of his struggle with poverty. Concern- 
ing the purpose of the journal, he says: "I do this because 
it seems pleasant to be able to look back upon our past lives 
and note the gradual change in our sentiments and views 
of life ; and because my life has been and bids fair to be such 

^ Ellsworth's diary has disappeared from view and there is a report which 
bears considerable evidence of being accurate that it was destroyed in later 
years by Ellsworth's parents. However this may be, it was given, upon his death, 
to Corporal Brownell, who had killed Jackson, his assassin. John Hay seems to 
have had access to it at one time, for in an article by him in McClure's Magazine, 
VI, 354, many citations from the diary are given. Prior to this, an unidentified 
writer in the Chicago Times of October 28, 1883, and in the National Tribune 
of October 15, 1885 cites so extensively from Ellsworth's diary as to render it 
probable that he had possession of it either at that or at some prior time. 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 15 

a jumble of strange incidents that, should I become any- 
body or anything, this will be useful as a means of showing 
how much suffering and temptation a man may undergo and 
still keep clear of despair and vice." These pages afford an 
intimate view of his character and one which can be obtained 
from no other source; for they are even more personal and 
confidential than his letters to the members of his own family. 
They tell in easy, fluent style of his poverty, temptations, 
dawning success, meditations, and laborious study of the law 
in the office of Mr. Cone, to which he had returned after his 
engagement had expired in Madison. 

Among the earlier entries in the diary is the account of his 
election on April 29, 1859, as commandant of the United 
States Zouave Cadets, of Chicago, a company superseding 
the National Guard Cadets, instituted three years previous, 
which company had become practically defunct. On abandon- 
ing the old name and armory the Zouaves made their quar- 
ters in the Garrett Block on ground now occupied by Central 
Music Hall. The drill and discipline of the corps grew to 
be more exacting and severe probably, than that to which 
any military company was ever subjected, for Ellsworth's 
aim was to improve the men "morally as well as physically" 
and "to place the company in a position second to none in 
the United States." The rules adopted and rigidly enforced 
proscribed drinking or even entering, without a valid excuse, 
a barroom, forbade visiting houses of vulgar resort, and 
gambling rooms, and prohibited the playing of billiards in 
public places. Ellsworth, himself, all his life was very 
abstemious; in a letter to his brother in 1858, he writes: "I 
don't use tobacco in any shape whatever; I drink neither tea 
or coffee." Running all through. his career is the unmistaka- 
ble evidence, especially visible in his private papers, that he 
was above all a moral champion: that his ethical principles 
overshadowed and governed his military ambitions. The 
proficiency of a cadet was no recommendation to his leniency ; 



I'tl Charles A. Ingraham 

if he transgressed the rules, he must go: twelve of his best 
drilled men were expelled at one time for drinking ; but such 
was his influence over his command that as they dwindled 
away there was never a stampede, even under the laborious 
drills and the prohibitory discipline. 

On the Fourth of July Ellsworth, having had the cadets 
in training but little more than two months, gave a public 
drill in front of the Tremont House and at once won the 
admiration of hostile critics, who pronounced the exhibition 
unrivaled outside West Point. This success was all the more 
remarkable when it is considered that Ellsworth had acquired 
his military knowledge entirely from self -instruction, never 
having been a member of a company when he began the oc- 
cupation of drillmaster. Moreover, he was still very poor, 
subsisting part of the time on nothing better than crackers; 
but he could write proudly in his diary on the night of the 
Fourth: "Victory, and thank God!" 

At Chicago on September 15 of the same year, at the 
seventh annual fair of the National Agricultural Society, 
Ellsworth with his Zouaves won a stand of colors valued at 
$500, which had been offered as a prize in a competitive drill. 
Owing to the fact that only one other company drilled for 
the award, though the contest had been open to any militia 
company in the country, great dissatisfaction prevailed 
throughout the East and South that the Zouaves should under 
the circumstances be accorded such a distinction. The old 
military companies of the eastern cities scorned the preten- 
tions of the "prairie boys," and ridiculed the idea of theii- 
being able to compete successfully with themselves. For 
Ellsworth had added fuel to the fire by challenging any 
company in the United States or Canada to drill for the 
champion colors, ofl*ering to pay their expenses to and from 
Chicago and stating that, starting on the following twentietli 
of June, the Zouaves would visit the leading cities of the 




COLONEL ELLSWORTH AND FRANCIS E. BROWNELL 

(in lower right-hand corner) 
From original photographs in the collection of Frederick H. Meserve, New York 



Colonel Ehner E. Ellsworth 17 

country for the purpose of meeting those companies whicli 
had not found it convenient to come to Chicago. 

The disciphne and drill, beginning early in February, 
became more exacting than ever, as it was felt by the company 
that in order to retain the colors the orders of the commandant 
must be scrupulously observed. Ellsworth told them that 
"everything except business and the company must be sacri- 
ficed" and that till the date set for the departure, drills must 
be held every evening, except Sunday, from seven to eleven 
o'clock. Associated with the drill, which was practiced with 
knapsacks weighing twenty-three pounds, were strenuous 
athletic exercises, while through the month of June the men 
slept on the floor of the armory wrapped in their blankets. 
The start was postponed from June 20 to July 2, owing to 
the death from smallpox of Ellsworth's brother, who was a 
member of the comj)any. This bereavement was a hard stroke 
for the commandant, who was already burdened with the care 
and discipline of the company and anxiety for the results. 
It was estimated that five weeks would be consumed in the 
tour and that the expenditures would approximate $7,000, 
but the funds ^vere far from being raised when the day of 
departure arrived. JMoreover, the company's goods and 
chattels were attached by certain ex-members who had loaned 
it money and who were now smarting from the effects of 
Ellsworth's severe discipline; but this difiiculty was quickly 
relieved by the generosity of Chicago citizens. 

The last reunion of Ells^vorth's Chicago Zouaves was held 
at the Wellington Hotel, Chicago, in November, 1910, at 
which eight members were present ; five absentees were known 
to be living at that time. I have recently corresponded with 
Mr. J. M. DeWitt of New York, who is actively engaged 
in practical affairs, with Mr. Frank E. Yates of Chicago, 
and, through his family, with Mr. J. A. Clybourn, of the 
sam.e city, who is in very poor health. This band of men, 
sifted out by Ellsworth and tried by the fire of his rigorous 



18 Charles A. Ingraham 

discipline and training, not only achieved the reputation of 
being perhaps the most perfectly drilled military company 
in history, but held important places in the army during the 
Civil War and multiplied the instructions and principles 
which they had derived from their commandant. 

The Chicago Historical Society has in its Ellsworth col- 
lection a crayon sketch drawn by him and evidently designed 
to serve as copy for the printer in preparing memorials of 
the tour, to be presented to the members of the company. 
Upon it are inscribed in consecutive order the names of the 
cities visited and the military organizations by whom the 
Zouaves were escorted and entertained, though the dates do 
not appear in all cases. The itinerary follows: 

Chicago, July 2, 1860; Adrian, Mich., July 3 and 4; 
Detroit, July 5; Cleveland, July 6 and 7; Niagara Falls, 
Sunday ; Rochester, July — ; Syracuse, July — ; Utica, July 
— ; Troy, July 12; Albany, July 13; New York, July 14, 
15, 16, — , 18, 19, 20; Boston, July 21, 22, 23, 25; Charles- 
town, Mass., July 24; Salem, July — ; West Point, July 26, 
27; Philadelphia, July 28; Baltimore, Aug. — ; Washing- 
ton, D. C, Mount Vernon, Aug. — ; Pittsburgh, Aug. — ; 
Cincinnati, Aug. — ; St. Louis, Aug. — ; Springfield, Aug. 
— ; Chicago, Aug. 15. 

The Zouaves were accompanied throughout their tour bny" 
a band of eighteen pieces, the Light Guard Band of Chicago ; 
but though the company went forth with fine melody and 
unique and brilliant uniforms, they were hardy soldiers with 
bronzed faces and wiry, agile frames, who lived abstemiously 
and slept each night on the floor of their quarters. Tempta- 
tions to indulge in wines and liquors were before them daily, 
but they resolutely turned away to take up the arduous w^ork 
of their program. They were very young and somewhat 
undersized; by no means a stalwart array, as might be ex- 
pected; but the wonderful precision, celerity, and grace of 
their drill and evolutions astonished and thrilled every town 



k 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 19 

they visited, and the accounts of their marvelous proficiency, 
telegraphed ahead, aroused widespread curiosity and brought 
great crowds to observe them wherever they went. Though 
the tour was made for the purpose of inviting competition, 
not a company ventured to face them, all cheerfully accord- 
ing them the palm of superiority. 

The period in which the tour was made could not have 
been more opportune; a critical presidential election was on, 
with Abraham Lincoln heading the Republican party which 
stood for the nonextension of slavery, and with the avowal 
rife in the South that, should he be elected, war would ensue. 
Thus, the people were disposed to look with interest and 
enthusiasm upon military demonstrations. Ellsworth's ex- 
perience was not, however, entirely without anxiety, owing 
to the lack of f vmds, which, until New York City was reached, 
was a source of worry; but at this point and in Boston large 
amounts were derived from exhibition drills given before im- 
mense audiences, and henceforward no difficulty was experi- 
enced on this score. The company reached Chicago on 
Tuesday, August 15, was accorded an ovation irrespective of 
party affiliations, and escorted to the accompaniment of pyro- 
technics and a torch-light procession, to the "Wigwam" where 
Lincoln had been nominated, which was filled with more than 
10,000 people. Mayor Wentworth gave a congratulatory 
address which was briefly responded to by Captain Ellsworth, 
after which, it now being midnight, the company was ban- 
queted at the Briggs House. 

Not long after this triumphant return Ellsworth resigned 
his commission and the company disbanded. Its career hav- 
ing been brilliant, though brief, it was better, it seemed to 
him, that the organization should dissolve rather than de- 
teriorate under less rigorous discipline. Ellsworth, without 
delay, seeming to realize that armed strife was at hand, 
organized a regiment of Zouaves in northern Illinois, officered 
it with men from his old company, and presented the force 



20 Charles A. Ingraham 

to Governor Yates to direct as he might deem expedient. 
Having become acquainted with Mr. Lincoln, he now entered 
his law office, not so much to pursue his somewhat neglected 
law studies as to promote a scheme which he was evolving 
of reorganizing the militia of Illinois and eventually of the 
whole country: to unify and bring the entire system more 
completely under the control of a central authority. Here 
begins to be manifest a wide grasp and a broad vision for 
which Ellsworth has never been given credit. To enjoy 9 
reputation as a successful drillmaster and to control efficiently 
a company of fifty men was but the rudiment of his ambi- 
tion and capacity; his mind went out firmly and sanely to 
broad fields, and he impressed his ideas upon Mr. Lincoln, 
who sought to give him an opportunity at the national capital 
to work out and put in operation these desirable measures. 
A start was attempted in a bill dictated by Ellsworth and 
introduced in the Illinois legislature while he was in Spring- 
field, but though it was successful in the House, it failed in 
the Senate through causes other than a lack of merit. 

During the autumn, Ellsworth employed himself on the 
stump, speaking for the Republican candidates, and ex- 
hibited decided gifts as an orator; a fine voice and presence, 
abundant himior and fluent expression gained him a ready 
hearing. In the meantime he had resumed his legal studies 
and later, passing a satisfactory examination, was admitted 
to the bar a few weeks before Mr. Lincoln started on his 
journey to Washington. The president-elect had invited 
Ellsworth to accompany him on the trip in the capacity of 
an officer to safeguard him by superintending the disposi- 
tion of the crowds that everywhere met him. Arriving at 
the capital he was incapacitated with the measles, but when, 
on his twenty-fourth birthday, April 11, 1861, Fort Sumter 
was summoned to surrender, he soon shook off the lethargy 
of his convalescence, resigned his lieutenant's commission, 
borrowed what money John Hay had at his disposal, and 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 21 

started for New York, resolved to raise a regiment for the 
service. In this he was promptly successful among the fire- 
men of the city and in a remarkably brief space, at the head 
of the Eleventh New York Volunteer Infantry, was on May 
7 mustered into the service in front of the Capitol at Wash- 
ington and in the presence of President Lincoln. For a few 
days the regiment was quartered in the Capitol building, but 
as the command was acquiring a tendency to disregard the 
proprieties of the service, Colonel Ellsworth secured for it 
a camp on the south side of the east branch of the Potomac, 
on the high ground in the vicinity of the Insane Asylum, 
believing that here he would have the men under better con- 
trol. An interesting, and to the Fire Zouaves a compli- 
mentary, event occurred while the regiment was in Wash- 
ington. Willard's Hotel having taken fire, Ellsworth and 
his men after vigorous efforts quenched the flames and saved 
the building, much to the gratification of Mr. Willard, who 
entertained them at breakfast and gave Colonel Ellsworth 
a purse of $500 to employ for the benefit of the regiment. 
This money the Colonel turned over to the committee that 
organized and equipped the Fire Zouaves, and it was eventu- 
ally divided equally and applied toward the erection of monu- 
ments for Ellsworth and his successor. Colonel Farnham, 
who died of wounds sustained at the first battle of Bull Run. 
On the evening of Thursday, May 23, the regiment was 
ordered to be ready to move at a moment's notice, and at 
2 o'clock A. M. of the twenty-fourth marched from its camp 
and boarded the steamers James Guy and Mount Vernon. 
In the bustle and stress incident to the departure, the busy 
Colonel found time to write two remarkable letters: one to 
his parents, the other to IMiss Spaiford, his fiancee. They 
breathe a presentiment of death and were found (at least the 
former, and I think the latter) upon his body. The letter 
addressed to Miss Spafford has not appeared before in print 
and has been read by but a limited number of persons. Colo- 



22 Charles A. Ingraham 

nel Ells^vorth's last act before leaving his tent was to look 
at her portrait and place it in his bosom.^ 

My dear Father and Mother : The Regiment is ordered to move across 
the river tonight. We have no means of knowing what reception we are 
to meet with. I am inclined to the opinion that our entrance to the City 
of Alexandria will be hotly contested, as I am just informed that a large 
force have arrived there today. Should this happen, my dear parents, 
it may be my lot to be injured in some manner. Whatever may happen, 
cherish the consolation that I was engaged in the performance of a sacred 
duty; and tonight, thinking over the probabilities of tomorrow, and the 
occurrences of the past, I am perfectly content to accept whatever my 
fortune may be, confident that He who noteth even the fall of a sparrow 
will have some purpose even in the fate of one like me. 

My darling and ever-loved parents, good-bye. God bless, protect 
and care for you. Elmer. 

My own darling Kitty. My Regiment is ordered to cross the river 
& move on Alexandria within six hours. We may meet with a warm 
reception & my darling among so many careless fellows one is somewhat 
likely to be hit. 

If anything should happen — Darling just accept this assurance, the 
only thing I can leave you — The highest happiness I looked for on earth 
was a union with you — You have more than realised the hopes I formed 
regarding your advancement — And I believe I love you with all the ardor 
I am capable of — You know my darling any attempt of mine to convey 
an adequate expression of my feelings must be simply futile — God bless 
you, as you deserve and grant you a happy & useful] life & us a union 
hereafter. Truly your own, Elmer. 
P. S. 

Give my love to mother & father (such they truly were to me) and 
thank them again for all their kindness to me — I regret I can make no 
better return for it — Again Good bye. God bless you my own darling. 

Elmer. 

It was a beautiful moonlight night and the bayonets of 
the troops could be seen glittering as they crossed the Long 
and Georgeto^vn bridges for the invasion of Virginia. The 

'The letter to Miss SpafFord is owned by her sister, Mrs. Charles H. God- 
frey, of Rockford. The letter to Ellsworth's parents has been published in 
photojjraphic reproduction in the Photographic History of the Civil War, edited 
by Francis T. Miller (New York, 1911,' 10 vols.), I, 351. 



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Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 23 

regiment arrived at Alexandria, seven miles below, at sunrise, 
disembarked unopposed, formed near the wharf, and Colonel 
Ellsworth with a squad of men from Company "A" started 
at "double quick" into the city, intending to seize the tele- 
graph office and dispatches. Obsei'ving the Confederate flag 
flying from the roof of the Marshall House, he sent a sergeant 
with an order for Company "A" to come up at once. It was 
evidently his purpose to detail the company to remove the 
flag, for he then passed on; but, as if reconsidering, turned 
and entered the hotel. It should be stated here that the regi- 
ment had come to Alexandria under embarrassing circum- 
stances; for not only had certain of the citizens expressed a 
desire that they should not be sent to the town, but General 
Mansfield, commanding at Washington, had threatened to 
muster them out of the service should they not conduct them- 
selves in an orderly manner. This partially explains Colonel 
Ellsworth's desire to obtain the flag without delay, fearing 
that it might enrage the men and lead to acts of vandalism. 
On the other hand, it is affirmed that before he left New York 
with his regiment, he remarked that "he would bring to the 
city the first secession flag he might encounter," and that "he 
would not order any of his men to go where he would not 
go himself." Just what was in the young colonel's mind will 
never be known ; probably a variety of motives impelled him 
to the act. He knew that the city of Washington would be 
looking for the lowering of the "bastard flag," which for days 
had been flaunted as an insult and challenge to the capital 
city. President Lincoln at that very moment might be look- 
ing anxiously from the windows of the White House for its 
disappearance ! 

The Marshall House is an old landmark of Alexandria, 
constructed of brick and three stories high ; it was famous as 
having entertained Washington. The flag was flying from 
a stafl* about twenty-five feet in length, attached to the frame 
of a rear dormer window, and was reached by ascending to 



24 Charles A. Ingraliam 

the attic by a stairway Avhich had a landing and turn at the 
middle. Colonel Ellsworth and his party, having left guards 
at proper intervals, secured the flag, and were coming down 
from the attic, when Corporal Francis E. Brownell, who 
was ahead, observed a man with a gun, who proved to be 
James W. Jackson, proprietor of the house, standing at the 
foot of the stairs. He immediately sprang below, and struck 
down the weapon but before he could prevent him Jackson 
raised his gun, a double-barrel shotgun, and fired at Colonel 
Ellsworth, who had come onto the middle landing and taken 
a step or two down, the charge entering his left breast. The 
Colonel cried "My God!" and plunged headlong to the floor 
below, uttering soon after but a low moan. He fell near the 
room that had been occupied by Washington, and the medal 
he wore, inscribed, "Non nobis, sed pro patria," was wet with 
his blood. Brownell with great coolness and rapidity of action 
took aim and firing struck Jackson in the middle of the face 
and as he reeled to fall plunged his sword bayonet through 
him, the assassin's second shot flying harmlessly over Brown- 
ell's head. A scene of confusion followed the double tragedy, 
heart-rending cries of agony, as Jackson's wife bewailed her 
loss, resounded through the hotel, while the Zouaves, fear- 
ing that they were trapped in a nest of secessionists, posted 
themselves so as to command the corridors and ordered all 
guests into their rooms on peril of being shot down. Com- 
pany "A" soon arrived on the ground, however, and on a 
litter improvised out of muskets, the body of Ellsworth was 
borne to the river, placed on the James Guy, and conveyed 
immediately to Washington. 

Among the many tributes that were published in honor 
of Ellsworth, none were comparable to the beautiful words 
sent by President Lincoln to his parents. He wrote:* 

* This letter is in the collection of Judd Stewart. It was privately printed 
in facsimile, with appropriate editing by Frederick H. Meserve. by the Quill 
Club of New York in 1916. 



Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 25 

"In the untimely loss of your noble son^ our affliction here is scarcely 
less than your own. So much of promised usefulness to one's country, 
and of bright hopes for one's self and friends, have rarely been so 
suddenly darkened as in his fall. In size, in years, and in youthful ap- 
pearance, a boy only, his power to command men, was surpassingly great. 
This power, combined with a fine intellect, and indomitable energy, and 
a taste altogether military, constituted in him, as seemed to me, the best 
natural talent, in that department, I ever knew. And yet he was singu- 
larly modest and deferential in social intercourse. My acquaintance with 
him began less than two years ago ; yet through the latter half of the 
intervening period, it was as intimate as the disparity of our ages, and 
my engrossing engagements, would permit. To me, he appeared to 
have no indulgences or pastimes ; and I never heard him utter a profane 
or an intemperate word. What was conclusive of his good heart, he 
never forgot his parents. The honors he labored for so laudably, and, 
in the sad end, so gallantly gave his life, he meant for them, no less 
than for himself. 

"In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of your 
sorrow, I have ventured to address you this tribute to the memory of my 
young friend, and your brave and early fallen child. 

"May God give you the consolation which is beyond all earthly power. 

"Sincerely your friend in common affliction. A. Lincoln." 

Importunate words throng" me for expression, but they 
cannot be accommodated further; the rage and grief of the 
Fire Zouaves and their hardly-prevented purpose of burning- 
the city of Alexandria ; the universal sorrow and demonstra- 
tions of grief all along the funeral route from Washington 
to Mechanicsville. I would like to tell of my acquaintance 
with and reminiscences of Ellsworth's parents, of how the 
government provided liberally for them, of how their son 
Elmer fulfilled in death the desire that he had been unable to 
accomplish in life: that his mother might "ride in a carriage." 

The fame of Ellsworth is destined to live on and to 
increase, for he individualized those elements of character 
which are loved and admired by the race universally. There 
was a deep well of patriotism in his romantic, generous natiu-e. 
informed and directed by a keen and comprehensive intellect. 



26 Charles A. Ingraham 

Though his life is ahnost like a fairy tale, it is steadied and 
rationalized by deep thoughtfiilness, filial affection, and un- 
affected piety. The far generations will linger reverently 
over that fmal word of love to his parents and will shed a 
tear as they read of his last look at the portrait of the bride 
of his heart and of his going out to die. Ellsworth will yet 
come to his own and be appreciated and valued and loved 
for what he was : one of the noblest, purest, and ablest patriots 
who ever died for his country. 



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